Rolling of cathode nickel



Patented Dec. 5, 1939 PATENT. OFFICE.

. 2,181,936 ROLLING or CATHODE NICKEL Robert a. Glanpier, Huntington, w.

James Orin McDowell,

Va... and

Steubenville, Ohio, as-

signors to The International Nickel Company,

Inc., New ,York, N. Y.,

a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application February 4, 1938, Serial No. 188,630

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a rolling process for producing nickel strip of uniform gauge and shape directly from nickel cathodes.

In the past many attempts have been made to cold roll nickel cathodes to uniform gauge and shape without pre-treatment. As far as we are aware such attempts have not been wholly successful when carried into practise on a commercial scale. These attempts may have failed from various causes among which has been the variation in gauge of an individual cathode. Such variations in gauge made it practically impossible to cold roll nickel cathode directly to strip of uniform gauge and shape. It is obvious that thegauge of the cathode could'be controlled during electro-deposition of the nickel but such 'control of conditions in the plating tankwould necessitate seriously curtailing the output of the plating tanks. Direct cold rolling of cathode nickel of variable thickness resulted in the production of strip of non-uniform shape and gauge.

It is possible to use cathode nickel for strips by melting, refining. pouring into ingots and forging, but this solution of the problem is time consuming and increases the cost of production exceedingly.

We have discovered a process of dispensing with all of the conventional steps of melting, pouring and forging, etc., and of rolling cathode nickel directly into strip of uniform shape and gauge.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a process of rolling cathode nickel directly into strip of uniform shape and gauge on an industrial scale.

It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the necessity of customary melting, pouring, forging, etc., of cathode nickel preparatory to producing nickel strip of uniform shape and gauge.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a substantially direct cold rolling procass for producing nickel strip of uniform shape and gauge fromcathode nickel involving the use of a special hot rolling pre-treatment.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from, the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In general, the process according to the present invention contemplates the heating of the cathode of varying gauge to a hot rolling tern-,-

perature and then subjecting it to a special hot" rolling. pretreatment by giving the cathode a single heavy pass on a hot mill, or, if desired, it may be given two or more lighter passes. After thepreliminarypassorpassesonthehotmilhthe partially rolled strip is finished on the cold mill.

For the purpose, of giving those skilled in the art a better understanding, the following illustrative example is given.

A nickel cathode about'33% inches in width, about 26% inches in length and having an average thickness of about 0.250 inch but varying in gauge from about .229 inch to about .279 inch was heated to a temperature of about 1900 F, to about 2000" F. and passed through a hot mill m of conventional design with 2 to 4 passes giving about 50% reduction in cross section. The partially rolled sheet had the following dimensions: about 49 inches'in length and about 34% inches in width and was of uniform shape with the gauge varying between about .135 inch and about .139 inch. From the hot mill, the strip was passed through a cold mill and given successive reductions of about 1% to about 5% per pass and about 60% total reduction in cross section. Finishing cold passes were less than about 1 per cent reduction. The resulting step had a gauge of about 0.058 of an inch plus or minus about 0.001 of an inch. The finished sheet is about 35 inchesin width and about 116 inches in length and the gauge of the finished strip is uniform to within about 0.002 of an inch.

As those skilled in the art are aware, commercial nickel cathodes, as they come from tanks operated on an industrial scale, do not have a smooth surface. On the contrary, there are numerous surface imperfections which give it a somewhat warty appearance. These warty growths are commonly called berries". The special hot rolling pretreatment of such cathodes, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, smooths out these berries, so that the partially rolled sheet which passes from the hot mill to the cold mill has a practically smooth surface. In consequence tion of operations involved in the present invention, cold rolled sheet and strip nickel are produced from commercial non-uniform nickel cathodes under industrial conditions and on standard mill equipment which possess satisfactory and acceptable uniformity of gauge and shape. This new result is of. great commercial importance because of the economies it effects over the] conventional practice of melti 8. refin n P011 1 8 i in otfl. f r i r ll 50 etc.

We claim: h 1. A process for producing nickel strip having a smooth surface and substantially uniform gauge and shape in widths as high'as about inches 66 of the novel combina- 40 sheet and strip directly from a nickel cathode having a-rough surface on which are numerous berries and nonuniform gauge comprising heating'the cathode to a temperature between about 1900" F. and 2000 F., passing the heated cathode about 2 to 4 times through a hot rolling mill to reduce its cross section about 50% and thereby practically to smooth out the berries and gauge inequalitie and passing the cathode through a cold mill wi successive reductions of about 1% to 5% per pass to further reduce the cross section about 60% and thereby completely to smooth out the berries and gauge inequalities, whereby nickel strip having a smooth surface and substantially uniform gauge and shape in widths as high as about 35 inches is produced.

2. A process for producing nickel strip having a smooth surface and substantially uniform gauge and shape in widths as high as about 35 inches directly from a nickel cathode having a rough surface on which are numerous berries and nonuniform gauge comprising heating the cathode to a hot rolling temperature, passing the cathode through a hot mill to reduce the cross section substantially in heavy passesand thereby practically to smooth out the berries and gauge inequalities, and passing the cathode through a cold mill with successive light reductions to fur-i ther reduce the cross section substantially and thereby completely to smooth out the berries and gauge inequalities, whereby nickel strip having a smooth surface and substantially uniform gauge and shape in widths as high as about 35 inches is produced.

' ROBERT R. CLAPPIER.

JAWS ORJN MCDOWELL.

CERTIFICliTE 0F CORRECTION.

PatentNo. 2,181,956. December 5, 19 9.

ROBERT R. CLAPPIER; ET AL.

It is hereby certified thaterror appears the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correctionas follows: Page 1, second column, line 22, for the Word"step" read-strip; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office. Signed and sealed this 6th day of February, A. D. 19149;

Henry Van Arsdale,

(Seal!) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

